Chasing Ghosts
by faelyn leaf
Summary: After battling the Sith in the Unknown Regions, Atton follows Revan back into Republic space. Revan learns that happy endings are only found in fairytales, and Atton is forced to follow along on her path of vengeance. LSRevanxAtton. Mostly gallows humour.
1. Prologue: The Citadel

Force, she looks so pathetic standing there. I'm not sure why she came back this dump, there's nothing for her here. I sure as hell don't have warm feelings for Citadel Station. I guess when you save the galaxy you expect to have a great life afterwards, but, for Jedi, it's different. They save the galaxy, come back into Republic space only to find that everyone they know is dead. The whole thing with a house and white picket fence with dozen screaming kids has never been _my_ ideal, but it obviously was for her. She wouldn't be here otherwise.

You know, if anyone said six years ago that my _Jedi_ master would beg me to babysit _Revan_ on his death bed, I would've run 'em through with a vibroblade. Or put a blaster to his head. Probably both. Revan's admiral boy toy died while she was still with Liam and me, battling Sith in the Unknown Regions. That's just how somethings go, I guess. You can win the game, but you always loose a few hands while doing it. Then again, I don't really care what she lost. As far as I'm concerned, she got what was coming her. She destroyed everything around her and the same finally happened to her. That's fair, right? That's how the Force is s'posed to work, you reap what you sow and all those other Jedi cliches. And believe me, she got exactly what she deserved.

Liam was right about one thing, though; she does need it, the babysitting, I mean. I wouldn't be here if he wasn't. Nah, Revan's not suicidal or anything she's too strong for that, but she walks around the station like a fracking ghost. I think she can she his murder through the Force or something. Liam told me a long time ago that the Force hides nothing from her, and that I believe. And hey, if she wants to follow a dead man, who am I to stop her? Let her waste the rest of her life on this station, she deserves it. All I promised was to keep her out of trouble, so if she wants play detective and relieve the admiral's last few moments over and over again, it's none of my business.. Yeah, I'm not just playing nurse to an ex-Sith Lord, I'm playing nurse to a _morbid_ ex-Sith Lord.

I guess I'm still not used to seeing her like this. I joined her all those years because she was strong, strong enough to keep the Republic safe. After all we did to protect it, there was no way in hell I was going to hand back to the idiots who lost it. Most guys agreed with me, and those who didn't always changed their minds anyway. So yeah, we followed her into the Unknown Regions and did everything she asked. Because of her, we turned into something else, something new, and she was the force behind it all. We became stronger than the galaxy itself and when she decided it was time, we tried to integrate that strength into the Republic. And then, after we had given her everything, she noticed me ...

Well, at least she fracked up her own life almost as bad as everyone else's. What's she's doing here is proof enough of that. I still can't decide if she's deluded, demented or both. She's definitely crazy, though.

We've been here almost six months now. Revan knows I'm here, but doesn't see me, doesn't acknowledge me. She's too busy looking for the assassin that killed the admiral, like she'll find him hiding under a table. I usually spend my time at the cantina, but I don't even play cards anymore – my lucky pazaak deck's been gone since we got captured shortly after leaving the Outer Rim. Fracking Sith nobody stole it right out of my pocket, and even after I killed him I couldn't find it. The dancers keep me company, at least. Even after all this time, the old Atton Rand charm seems to work. Liam would have me use it with Revan. He would want me to make her happy again, but somethings a guy can't just leave behind.

She was my lord, I was her assassin. It should have been simple: I captured, tortured and turned Jedi for her. Had a talent for, she said, and I liked my work. Hell, I loved my work. It went all wrong though, but that's usual for me; everything else seems to. I never thought I'd say this, but when those old, impotent Jedi masters said that Jedi should never get involved with each other, they were probably right.

I used to love her, and nothing's quite like fracking a Sith Lord. That was a lifetime ago, though. One that I'm better off forgetting, but it's impossible with her around. I don't need her speaking to me to feel her presence, to know she's around. That old witch was right, a lifetime of killing Jedi gave me a real taste for it, and the old feelings are still close to the surface of my thoughts. All Revan does is make me remember them even more.

Everything I've ever done is still in my head. I remember the faces of hundreds of Jedi that me and my squad were responsible for, the way seeing Jedi blood was almost euphoric, and most of all, the hard on I would get when all my games were over and the Jedi finally understood my side. Revan was allowed to forget it all, like she never had a hand in any of it. Most people just aren't lucky enough to have it done for us, and we actually gotta carry around our past. She was even lucky enough to forget me when I didn't get the same courtesy.

Love her, hate her; what the frack is the difference? I needed her once, bled for her, killed for her, fracked her. She had legions, an entire army dedicated to her cause. And now her cause is finished and she is alone. Chasing ghosts on a deserted space station. How fracking pathetic can you get?


	2. Chapter One: Love Her, Hate Her

Chapter One: Love Her, Hate Her

Revan's always had protectors. First it was Malak and Liam, then the admiral and the Mandalorian ... and now it's just me. Funny how I never saw it before, then again, when you kneel before your lord, you don't tend to think of them as weak. Or maybe she isn't – maybe she just breeds obsession and we think she needs protecting.

... Frack, now I'm even talking like a Jedi.

I don't know if I've said it enough, but I hate this fracking place. I hate the planet, the Ithorians, Grenn ... even the fracking apartment's the same! All I need is for Atris to show up and it'll be just like old times. If something doesn't happen soon, I'm gonna go out of my mind. Maybe Revan'll off herself, and good riddance.

She's the one who's already crazy, running around the station like she does.

I followed Liam after Malachor. I figured that since I didn't die helping him the first time, it probably wouldn't happen at all. I was right, and I'm still here. Problem's that Liam isn't. I wasn't even there when he got hurt – was leading a few of Revan's men to infiltrate a Sith camp and steal docking codes. Yeah, Revan had raised another army. And, yes, they were all fanatically devoted to her. Is there a difference between _General_ Revan and _Lord_ Revan? I have no fracking clue. Stopped trying to figure it out years ago.

There I was, with a data pad full of access codes just ripe for decryption, when she walked in and told me that Liam was dying. That's it. No emotion, no pain, no fracking _expression_. You'd have thought she knew it was going to happen all along. After all he did for her, you'd have thought she'd care at least. He only fought in two wars, had his connection to the Force ripped out, and cleaned up the messes she left behind. It's not like she owed him or anything. Then again, she likes to play at _amnesia_. Like pretending she's in a fracking soap opera somehow makes her better, or different than what she was before. Like it makes her forget about me.

Love her, hate her?

Someone like Liam shouldn't have died the way he did. Kolto wouldn't even have helped him, not then. He asked me, or ordered me – it doesn't matter any more – to take care of her. Me, take care of a fracking Sith Lord! I thought he was crazy, and told him as much. He just laughed, and then he died. He got the last laugh, too; I'm here, just as he wanted me to be. It's not like I could've said no, not when he forgave me. Then again, he forgave **her**, so it's not like it means much.

I think I'm even starting to get bored of the cantina girls. You see one naked Twi'lek, you've seen 'em all. And yeah, even fracking their head tails off gets old after a while. Besides, like I've said before, nothing compares to a Sith Lord. That admiral was one hell of a luck guy, not that I'd want to be in his shoes. Revan's too fracking crazy for me to ever want to do that again.

Damn, I'm starting to think too much about this. I must really be getting desperate.

It's been eleven months since Liam died, eight since Revan slaughtered the Sith in the Unknown Regions, and six months, thirteen days since she dragged us into this hell. And here I am, in the cantina, thinking too much and barely noticing the girl in front of me striping. I'm really starting to think suicide's the only option. Nah, still prefer regicide. Only problem's that I haven't seen Revan in weeks. I can just image sticking my lightsaber in her, how fracking fantastic that would be. Put us all outta misery.

"Surprise, surprise. I go looking for you and you're at the cantina. Really, Atton, for all your _talents_, I'd have thought you a little less predictable."

The voice is familiar, though I haven't heard it in months. I should be annoyed with her, I really should. Truth is though, something finally fracking happened, and I'm too happy that it has. I can already tell that this'll be the last night in Citadel – the great Lord Revan has decided thus. Force, I hate her. I feign interest in the dancing girl, and answer without looking, "Well, it's better than spending the better part of a year looking for ghosts. Did you find what you were looking for, or will fracking his corpse be enough for you?" In another lifetime, I'd be dead before my body hit the ground. Then again, I thought I loved her back then.

She grinds her teeth and I look at her – is that a little spark of lightening at her fingertips? She's talking now, anyway, "You can either listen, and come with me when I leave, or I can take the ship and leave you to rot."

So, I was right. "Where do you plan on going, anyway? It's not like there's much left for you." Just a galaxy full of warrants, most wanting her captured dead.

"I'm going to find Carth's murderer, and I'm going to kill him."

Simple, straight forward, and far different than her usual plans. "So, what, the redeemed Jedi wants revenge now that she can't get her happily ever after?"

"Something like that. Are you coming?"

She knows I will. Revan the fracking psychologist can read people like a book. She did it to me before, and she can still do it. I force my body to relax, "Promised Liam, didn't I?"

"Good. Pack your things, we're leaving tomorrow morning,"she says while walking away.

At that was that, and order from the Lord. Problem was, I wasn't one of her subordinates any more. I sure as hell wasn't her assassin, either. She could do the killing by herself.

Lover her, hate her; who the frack cares? I'm finally getting off this trash dump and away from this planet.


	3. Chapter Two: Early to Rise

Chapter Two: Early to Rise

It's early, too early when she wakes me up. Walks right into my apartment like she owns the place, like she's invited. Well, she's not. "What time is it?" I try to be coherent, but I slur it anyway. Yeah, I might have had a little too much to drink last night, but it's not as if there's been anything else to celebrate. At least the girl I brought home with me is gone.

"Around six in the morning."

_Frack_. Have I mentioned that I hate her? "Some of us like to sleep in, your Lordship."

"I told you last night, you can leave with me now, or you can stay. Your choice."

"Where're we going?" I try to stand up, but my head won't cooperate, so I ease back down into the sheets.

She raises her eyebrow at me and snorts, "You're not going anywhere until you put some clothes on. That is one sight I don't care to see."

"You never had much of a problem before." Regicide keeps looking better and better. "I'd say you enjoyed yourself." She has nothing to say, so she glares at me. Yeah, most guys would wet themselves, but not me. I've seen too much of her. I wonder how that admiral of hers handled her. This time I force myself out of bed, and grab yesterday's clothes from off the floor. It can't be bad of a view, since she doesn't have the decency to look away. I guess she really would like to see more of me naked. Now that's enough to scare a guy.

"Finish getting ready, I'll make some caffa,"she says after a moment. She leaves the room without looking back.

Lucky me, getting waited on! I put on my clothes. They're rumpled and smell like sex, but I can't care less. It's not like Revan has puritan Jedi values. If anything she could use a good fracking herself, get that stick removed from her ass. Not like I'm volunteering. Sure, I'd love to stick something in her, but it's definitely not part of my anatomy.

I could shower, brush my teeth, and comb my hair, but it's only Revan. Instead, I pack up the few things I have left. Somehow, my lucky jacket's made it through the years with less holes than I have, and it gets packed first. Won it in a Pazaak game, and the fracking thing's been with me since. That was before Liam, even.

I guess she's finished with the caffa. I can smell it from the bedroom and it almost makes my headache feel better. Almost. I guess it's my summons. I throw the rest of my stuff in my bag, and go into the kitchen.

I guess I should be amused. After all, how many other people get to have their caffa made by a Sith Lord? Part of me wonders where she got the stuff, and the other wants to know how much poison she put in it. It's not Revan's style, but she could've learned. She, of course, doesn't give any explanations, just puts a mug in front of me and sits down herself. I sip it cautiously and it doesn't kill me. I figure it's pretty safe, even if she's not drinking any. "Where'd ya get this?" I ask.

"My private stash on the _Hawk_."

"You mean from before? I went over that ship up and down, and I never saw anything!" Funny what the quest for one more bottle of Tarisian Ale will drive a man to.

She shrugs, "With seven other people aboard I had to hide it well. She used to be a smuggling ship, so I put a few packages in one of the old spice compartments."

Revan hoarding caffa? "It tastes funny."

"It's almost seven years old, and caffa's become a rare item on Citadel. What did you expect?"

It's too early, and my head hurts too much to deal with this. I try to change the subject. "You never said where we're going."

She looks away. "Corellia," she says after a few seconds.

"What? Why?" I can't help it, I'm actually confused. What could that planet have to do with anything?

"He has ... had family there."

"And you think one of them killed your boyfriend?"

"No!" I can see her trying to calm herself down. "No," she repeats. "I just have to check in on someone first, and ask him a few questions."

Sounds like a waste of time to me, but what do I care? This revenge thing is all Revan, I'm just along for the ride. Make sure she doesn't kill herself, or take over the galaxy, along the way. "So, we're going on holiday while you interrogate someone. Almost like the old days, isn't it?"

She decides to ignore me this time. "It's the best place to start looking for answers."

"What makes you think that the ship'll even get us there? We barely made it back into Republic space as it was. Now that she's been sitting for six months, I doubt we'll make it out of the docking bay."

"Just what do you think I've been doing all this time? Do you have any idea how hard it was to negotiate for a mechanic to even look at the _Hawk_? They're all busy on the planet's surface, or else fixing droids for the Ithorians!"

"And all the while I thought you were obsessing over dead admirals." I say dryly.

She actually looks embarrassed, but recovers quickly. "No, I was busy trying to repair all the damage an incompetent pilot did to my ship."

"It's not your ship!"

"Yes, it is," she looks at me and I can see the fury in her eyes.

It's not her ship, it's Liam's. She had abandoned it same as she did everything else: like so much space trash. I grit my teeth, "Oh, so what, you stole it first?"

"As a matter of fact, I did."

"It doesn't matter. The thing's nothing more than a fracking pile of scrap."

"Only because it was in your tender care for long."

"Right, and letting it drift in space for who knows how long had nothing to do with it." I don't know why I'm arguing with her over this, it's crazy. Maybe I'm waiting for her to strike and put me outta misery. She doesn't, though. Just gets up, leans against the counter, and pours herself a mug of caffa. I guess she didn't poison it after all.

She takes a sip and almost spits it out. "It's gone bad," she says with a sick look on her face.

"Told ya so," I say with a smirk. She's quiet for a while, and I take the time to rest my head on the table. It couldn't be more than six thirty. Way to fracking early to see her, never mind have a conversation. The caffa's a little off, but at least it's doing its job. My head feels like it's only in a vice, instead of being trampled by a herd of bantha. "So, Corellia," I mumble into the table.

"Corellia," she answers.

"Who're you planning on visiting there?"

"Dustil."

"Who's Dustil?"

"Carth's son."

_Frack_. Somehow I knew it was going to be downhill from there. "When do we leave?"

"Now."


	4. Chapter Three: Making Up for Lost Time

Revan was right, the ship will be able to fly, barely. Funny that for all her talk of pilot incompetence, she's letting my fly the ship with a hangover. I guess she really doesn't have a choice, her Lordship doesn't like to be kept waiting, and T3 was destroyed years ago. At least she decided to unlock the navicomputer, it would've been a real short trip otherwise.

I'm too tired to even try to argue with her when she gets into the co-pilot seat. She wants to pretend that she's back with her old crew, fine by me. Let her live in her fantasy world, maybe she'll stay there and let the rest of us live in peace. No more six in the_ fracking_ morning wake up calls, and no more being her babysitter, either. A man can only dream.

She doesn't say anything while I prepare the ship for launch, not that I care. I'm too busy trying to get my higher brain functions back, that and making sure the mechanics she hired actually did their job. I'm not a big fan of crashing before we leave the docking bay. That would only cause more delays, and I don't want to spend more time with her than I have to. Besides, on a small station like this, I wouldn't hear the end of it for months. The last thing I need's to have my name synonymous with crashing. The fact that I'm supposed to be a Jedi's already joke enough.

"So, Corellia."

"Yes," she says. Her Lordship doesn't even bother to look at me, "Have you forgotten already?"

"Oh, I don't know, it might have slipped my mind what with the hangover and all." Funny thing is, I'm not even really angry. Haven't been for a long time.

"I told you, his family's there." She doesn't sound angry, either. Believe me, I know because I've seen her angry. I've also seen what she does to the morons who irritate her. "We were supposed to visit them," she frowns, "but I had to leave."

Same ship, same destination, just with her boyfriend dead. It's like I said before: fracking morbid. "So what, you want to make up for lost time?"

"No." And now she looks at me, right in the eyes, "Look, you can't understand, but something's going to happen there. Something big, and I think it'll help me find Carth's assassin. Dustil is already there, he will have –"

"Just stop right there. Look, I don't know where you got your intell from, but you can't trust everything you hear!" Or dream up. When did she become so fracking naïve? Probably around the time it became my job to bail her out of her own half-baked schemes."This is crazy, absolutely nuts. At best nothing's going to be there, at worst, it's going to be a trap. You'll be captured and then I'll get captured, or killed, trying to rescue you."

"Stay on the station if you've changed your mind." I try not to roll my eyes, it's not like I've heard that threat before. "This isn't a half-truth I ripped from some sentient's mind!"

"So, where did it come from?"

She turns away and stares at navicomputer's console. "The Force."

My head starts pounding again. The fracking Force. It always comes to that. The same fracking nebulous thing that she's based all of her fracking decisions on since the beginning. Like it never steered her wrong. Like she never killed trillions in its name, and recruited others to help her. Like she never manipulated men to carry out her orders, like she didn't do it to _me_. I hate her! Just let me find my lightsaber, and this will all be over. Liam wouldn't mind if I kill her, not if I'd be protecting the galaxy. And the best part is she's looking at me as if I'm the one who's the damn threat. _Me_!

Or maybe this isn't going to start her on another war path, maybe she's finally cracked and I can dump her at the nearest nut house. Leave her to rot while I re-introduce myself to the Twi'leks in Nar Shaddaa's red light district. Best of all, I'd never have to think about her again. Ah, what am I thinking? Of course she's going to be right – the Force is practically her own personal fortune teller, with the added bonus of true predictions. Not even Liam could see what she does, and he's the one who cleaned up her mess.

_Frack_. Liam. I promised him I would stay with her. I have to wonder if his forgiveness means as much as I think it does. He was always so quick to defend Revan, even when we first met he argued with me about her. He would be with her right now, he _should_ be with her, but he's dead. It's my job to defend her now because Liam made me a _fracking_ Jedi. It's not fair, but life isn't. I learned that a long time ago. Learned it from her.

"Atton?"

Guess I can't ignore her forever, much as I want to. "So, let me get this straight. The Force wants you to go to this planet because your boyfriend's kid is there? Gee, is it me, or does that sound completely insane? Tell me this is not the start of some plan to raise another army. Is the kid one of your acolytes? Are you two going to start another war, slaughter another couple of trillions? What does more matter after the first few?"

"No," she sighs. "I don't remember what happened the first time, but that is not what's going on here. The Force _wants_ me there, I can feel it. It's the same pull that took me to the Unknown Regions."

Oh yeah, that's real assuring. Especially since she has _no_ idea what happened before. "Yeah well, with your new amnesia act, anything's possible."

This time I'm sure I can see her eyes turn red when she looks at me. "Start the engines and prepare for launch or get the hell off my ship. I'm tired of arguing with you. Pick one. Now."

Knowing my luck, this is exactly how everything started the first time, and history's going to repeat itself. The Force calls Revan here, the Force calls her there, and the next thing anyone knows, she's conquered the core worlds. She's more than a few cards short of a pazaak deck as it is, I don't even wanna know what would happen if she hooked up with another Kreia, and this Dustil kid sounds to be about the type. Revan wouldn't keep going on about him if he wasn't.

Liam would give her the benefit of the doubt, but I'm not him. Then again, it's been over an hour since I had that caffa she made and I'm not dead yet. Most poisons in this sector are of the fast acting variety, and I haven't had any organs fail or been in agonising pain yet.

She's still waiting for my answer. Funny, in the old days I'd be in one of her torture chambers for taking so long – and now all she's doing is glaring. I don't bother to say anything, just shrug my shoulders and signal for the docking bay doors to open.

_Frack_, and me without my pazaak deck. I can't believe I'm doing this. I just hope I don't have to talk to her again until we get to Corellia.


	5. Chapter Four: Trouble at the Border

You know, outta everything I've done and been through, the last thing I ever expected was to end up kissing ass to the Corellian Port Authority. Oh, yeah, and the best part? It's all Revan's fault. Everything was going smoothly until she decided to talk. Yeah, I know, I should've never let her near the comm system, but it wasn't exactly my idea. She's the one who decided to be _honest_ when they asked me how many were aboard.

She already looks frustrated, and she hasn't even hit the brick wall with them yet."Look, if you'll just let me explain ..." I almost laugh. There's no way in hell she's going to talk her way out of this one. Times past, she'd use a lightsaber to make her point, and even I have to say cutting them all down would be faster than dealing with bureaucracy.

The officer she's dealing with sighs and manages to look bored even through the grainy holo."Miss Carr, the file on you is very specific. It says here that you've been AWOL for the past seven years. We're going to have to detain you, your companion, and your ship while we contact the Republic Fleet. After they have questioned you, you'll be free to leave."

I bang my head against a nearby bulkhead. Next time, I'm just going to throw her into the cargo hold and leave her there to rot. I can't believe she was fracking stupid enough not to arrange for a new ID. Scratch that, I can't believe she was stupid enough to announce her presence in the first place!

"I was on special assignment for _Admiral_ Onasi, and --"

She gets cut off once again. "Ma'am, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but it's not me you're going to have to explain yourself to. The wars left the Republic Fleet decimated, and now they want to account for all of their remaining personnel, whether they were on _special_ _assignments_ and have extenuating circumstances or not. I'm sorry, it's policy."

I guess her grief act and dropping the Admiral's name got her favours back on Citadel, but definitely not anywhere else. She seems to realise that, too. She looks up at the holo, right into the projected green eyes of the officer. I feel the Force gather in strength around her, and I can already tell where this is going. I wanna believe she won't be able to use a mind trick from here, but I already know she can; I've seen her do it before.

"You misread the file," she says soothingly in a hypnotic voice that doesn't leave room for doubt. "There are many sentients named 'Trin Carr', and I don't match the description you have. You want us to continue on our way." The dock officer doesn't stand a chance. Frack, I almost believe it. He looks dazed as repeats her words and lets us go. Funny how I never saw Liam use that trick before. Funny how he never needed to.

I wait for Revan to turn off the comm before going back to the pilot's seat. Forget regicide, she's going to end up getting herself killed! She doesn't need the help, and I could probably collect the bounty on her head even if I wasn't the lucky one who got to space her. What's she going to do next, admit to being a Sith Lord? Oh yeah, that would go over real well, especially here on Corellia. It would only take a nanosecond and she'd be tried and executed, and me along with her. The only ones who are even more pissed off with her are the Telosians, and most of 'em are dead.

I shake my head to try and focus on something other than her stupidity. I can't say I'm worried about the authorities dropping in as I prepare for docking. Knowing her Lordship, the officer won't even recognise his own name any more, never mind Revan's alias.

I don't notice her walking into the cockpit until it's too late and she's already sat herself down. "Well, that could have gone worse," she says.

"Yeah, right. Wanna tell me how?"

"I wasn't sure if the trick would work."

"What?" At first I just wanna yell her, and tell her that even if she decides to play dumb, it doesn't mean I will. Then I remember. "Oh yeah, your amnesia." For a moment, just for a moment, I think about how satisfying it would be to kill her. How great it would be to have my hands around her throat and feel her life drain away. I wouldn't have to deal with her, or her _amnesia_ any more. Now that's an image to rub one out to.

I think she notices, 'cause she gets up quickly. "When we get to the surface, I'm going to book a shuttle to Doaba Guerful. The _Hawk _can stay at the main port in Coronet; it'll make us a little harder to track if our friends decide we're worth investigating after all.

I keep my mouth shut, only Revan can be both naïve and arrogant enough to believe that she can hide and stay hidden. I shrug and lean back in my seat. "It won't be long until we reach the surface, maybe ten minutes or so."

She walks out of of the cockpit. "I'll be meditating."

I won't be the first, and I won't be the last, to curse while landing. Corellia's a planet of _nothing_, even Dantooine had more going on, and it was a planet of farmers! So much for my hopes of a pazaak den or a red light district, this place is just too clean for them. At least the thrusters are in working order and we land without a hitch. With the crack team of mechanics Citadel has to offer, I half expected we'd be crashing into the planet.

Her Lordship decides to grace me with her presence only after I've paid the docking fee, and found a brochure of 'the beauteous mountain city' of Doaba Guerful. "There's a tourist shuttle leaving soon," I say to her as she walks down the _Hawk's_ loading ramp.

She nods. "Good," she says, like I'm one of her subordinates who's just completed orders.

Well, I'm not, so I feign interest in the brochure. "So, we're almost there, but now what?" I ask without looking up from the data pad. "I mean, you can't honestly expect me to knock on random doors until we find who you're looking for."

"No, I think Dustil will come to us. We shouldn't have to look for him at all ..."

She starts muttering something about swirling Force, and I decide to tune her out. Oh yeah, I can see it perfectly clearly, the great Lord Revan and her fracking delusions of grandeur. Only it's Revan, and they won't be delusions. Funny how she started wanting to find the Admiral's assassin, and now she's obsessing over his kid. Wish she would make up her god dammed, _fracking_ mind. Then again, it just wouldn't be Revan without the schizophrenic fixations. She'd be too sane without them.

I barely notice her leading me to shuttle bay the brochure advertised, I'm more focused on her. She looks almost nervous, and I wanna know why. Psychotic, delusional, mentally unhinged ... yeah, all those things suit her, but not nervous. Her eyes scan the crowd ahead of us, and all of a sudden she stops. She points out to a kid who could barely be twenty-two, and looks like a mirror image of the the Admiral. So that's Dustil.

"Trin," he walks up to us and says her name with an air of half-remembered reverence. He starts to bow then catches himself halfway. "Trin," he says again, less awkwardly. "It's been awhile." The kid doesn't look too happy to see her, but then again, who would be?

Revan just smiles at him though, and I try not to laugh. I can already tell I like the kid, besides, he's got Dreshdae written all over him. Maybe Corellia won't be so bad after all.


	6. Chapter Five: Family

Revan introduces me, and before I know it, the kid is leading the way through the crowds. I've always hated tourist ports, they're too squeaky clean; reminds me of Force cages. Add in throngs of frustrated, unwashed and angry people with lost luggage, and you've got yourself an entire prison. Gimmie a half ruined port in a refugee sector any day. Better yet, a red light district. Force I could use one of those right now.

We make our way through the terminal, and the crowd lessens. Naturally, the part of the port where the least visitors are is more opulent. There's more shops in this part, and more fancy design. A pond in the middle of a corridor here, displays of the planet's flora there. It's enough to make a person sick. So much wealth, so little brains in the person spending it. All that's missing is the fracking thing to be paved in credits. Did I mention it's a docking bay?

Revan gawks, and the kid notices. "This is the private area of the bay," he explains. "I borrowed my aunt's shuttle to find you."

"I had no idea that your family was this ..."

"Wealthy?" The kid smiles bitterly. "Neither did I, until I came. My aunt's family builds warships, but the company went bankrupt during the Mandalorian occupation, and I had believed it to still be the same." Dustil runs his hands through is brown hair and tries to look casual. "The Civil War brought the planet's economy back to life, and the family found most of their shipyards intact." He grabs Revan's arm and looks right at her, "No one believes that Revan left the planet's infrastructure alone because of carelessness, and most are still nervous of strangers, masked or otherwise." Revan nods and Dustil drops her arm; the message's received: Jedi aren't welcome here, especially not her.

Can't say I blame them.

Revan goes quiet for awhile, and I thank the Force for the silence. There's something about hearing her talk that really kills my mood. We walk on.

The kid looks like he wants to talk. He keeps glancing back at Revan, like he wants to say something, but just isn't sure what. Why, I have no idea. There's no way in hell I would talk to her if I didn't have to.

Finally the kid looks at Revan and says, "I'm sorry."

The first real thing outta the kid's mouth and I'm already disappointed. The kid's Telosian, so what the hell does he have to be sorry about? Nothing. If anything, Revan should be on her knees begging him for forgiveness. And yet, here we are, in a fracking space port and he's saying sorry to her.I really gotta know why I put up with this. I should've saved enough credits back on Citadel and gotten the hell out of there first chance I got, but no, I stick with her and risk loosing my mind every damn day. It's so fracking typical for everyone to grovel at her Lordship's feet, and then there's me in all my sanity forgetting that she's worthy of praise, apologies ... or anything.

She sighs, "It wasn't your fault, Dustil."

His fault? The kid? Oh that's rich.

He shakes his head. "I failed you."

"No," she she says quietly. She puts her hand on his shoulder. "You did exactly what I asked. You protected her the best you could."

"It was quick, at least." Revan raises her eyebrow at him, and he explains. "We saw some of those assassins attacking someone. Before I could do anything, she ran in with her," he looks around, " ... _sword_. I went to follow, and we managed to fight them off, but the last one... I killed him, but Bastila was already dead."

"She could never pretend she was something other than what she was." Now why does that sound familiar? "She died defending innocent sentients. She choose the Light Side, that meant everything to her." Revan spouting Jedi platitudes. I try not to laugh, so I roll my eyes instead.

"Yes, I suppose so." The kids looks to the ground. "I saved her sword to give to you."

Revan squeezes her eyes shut. "Thank you," she whispers.

"Um, excuse me, I hate to interrupt this happy reunion, but maybe you two could stop advertising our presence and take this somewhere else." I'm surprised at the kid, I really am, a student of the Academy should know better, even if its founder doesn't. There's still the security patrol walking around, and after the little speech he have Revan about Jedi, he must be crazy to bring that up here. Or guilty as frack. Then again, it's hard not to loose yourself in front of Revan. I should know.

Revan looks at me, but doesn't let go of Dustil's shoulder. "Atton's right."

I used to wonder if what Kreia wanted was really so bad. Yeah, she was crazy, but a galaxy without Jedi and Sith killing each other sounds sounds like a good idea to me. No more Force, no more lightsabers ... no more dark lords and their assassins. No more Revan.

Of course it'd never work out like that. The galaxy likes fracking around with me too much, but watching this heart warming scene between her Lordship and her newest acolyte almost makes me wish Kreia'd won. She would've killed us all, but being dead is still better than trailing Revan. Sometimes I wish Liam and I could've switched places.

The kid nods in agreement and steps away from her. Revan's hand falls back to her side. "The shuttle's just ahead," he says.

"So, where we going, kid?"

"To my aunt's house." He looks sly all of a sudden, but the expression's gone before I can ask. It doesn't take Jedi senses to know the kid's hiding something. In the old days, he'd be inside an interrogation chamber before he could blink, and I'd have the privilege of getting the information myself. Now, now I have to try and remember that he is one of Revan's _friends_, and probably not out to kill me. Liam's dying face comes to my mind, reminding me about the promise. Or her.

We turn another few corners and the kid flashes his ID to a guard droid. Finally. The dock's door open, and I take my first glance of the shuttle. Still gleaming metal, no cracks or fractures, micro or otherwise. Brand new. It's not the _Hawk_, but I won't have to worry about her crashing, at least.

We all climb in. It's only a family shuttle, but there's still plenty of room for three people. Thank the Force for small miracles. I watch Revan take a seat in the back. Probably meditating. Good riddance.

"You can take the co-pilot's seat," Dustil says to me.

"So long as I don't have to fly this thing."

Dustil looks at me with a small smile on his face. "No, I'll do it. I know a short cut, and my aunt's already waiting for us. She wants to meet Trin."

"Perfect." I sit back in the chair with my hands folded behind my head, and let myself relax for the first time in what feels like months. I honestly want to meet this aunt of the kid's, should be entertaining. Then again, anything that causes trouble for her Lordship is something I want front row seats for.


End file.
